Late Late Live Tinder
by Gabi Evans
Summary: Lily is an employee at the Late Late Show with James Corden. One day, she is invited to play Tinder on national television.


**N/A: I've been watching this show too many times. I have no idea what this is. **

**(You should know there are some cursing on this and some slight mention on a conversation of sex, but that's it.)**

* * *

**Late Late Live Tinder**

Lily Evans went through her Instagram feed distractedly. It was downtime at the office where she worked as a field producer assistant and everyone was chilling out for a bit before a scheduled meeting. From her place on the sofa, it was possible to hear the sound from the studio where they recorded one of their productions, the Late Late Show with James Corden. He was just wrapping up an interview with the Jonas Brothers (!).

"Love the boots", said Benjy, throwing himself on the sofa next to her, his phone attached to his hand. "Love the skirt. Any hot dates tonight?"

She looked up with an eyebrow raised, locking her phone and slipping it into her pocket. Since her hiring and moving from London, six months prior to that, line producer Benjy had been her very own confidant. They had clicked from day one over their love for marathons of Rupaul's Drag Race and their hate for most single men in Los Angeles.

"Surprisingly, _yes_", Lily answered in a low tone, crossing her legs. "I'll meet this _brilliant_ bloke for drinks afterwork."

"Well", he played along, coming closer to whisper at her. "Don't get your hopes up, darling. From what I've heard, he _might _be a little gay."

"Isn't that the only type of men worth anything around here?", she promptly said.

"You mean me, so you're not completely wrong, but you're wrong in account of the gay men _I've _met lately", he relaxed into the sofa, picking at her sleeves with a smirk. "But really, love the clothes."

"You insisted so much I dress up", Lily shrugged, tucking her red hair behind her ear. "And we do deserve a nice night out for a change."

"We do", he agreed, turning his head to the door when the music changed in the studio. "Is Marlene coming?"

"She is", the redhead agreed, taking out her phone once again. "I was texting her to confirm. She and Dorcas will be there with a friend. And I'll ask Mary, as well."

"Great", he said, his southern American accent seeping on the vowels.

Lily replied to a message from Mary, her roommate, and was just opening Marlene's chat when suddenly Benjy took her phone out of her hand. She raised her eyes to ask him _what in hell _when she was confronted by the nearing of a camera.

"There she is!", someone said loudly through the speakers, startling her. "Lily, it is a huge pleasure to see you!"

That was most definitely James Corden's voice _directly addressing her_.

"What?", she asked, freezing up and immediately going red in the face.

"How are you today?", James asked.

Lily looked at Benjy in panic, before opening her mouth a few times to form a sentence.

"I'm fine", she said, confusion and shakiness evident in her voice, before she covered her mouth with her hands when she realized what part of the show she was going to be in. "Oh, Benjy, you didn't."

"He most certainly did", James laughed through the speakers. "This gent next to Lily is her friend, Benjamin, please say hi, Benjy."

"Hello", he waved, winking at the camera.

"Now, Lily, how would you feel about coming over here to find yourself a nice date for tonight?", James Corden asked.

"Oh lord", she breathed, shaking a bit from the scare. "I—"

"Are you down?", James asked. "Is this okay?"

She breathed, staring at Benjy to make it perfectly clear to him that that was his very last day parading his cute ass on Earth, before smoothing out her features. She didn't intend to lose her job, would she lose her job over this? How does one say no to James Corden? Oh god. "Yeah, I guess—Yeah."

"Okay, so please come to the stage!", he cheered along the audience. "Come on down!"

Benjy squeezed her arm in support – _that's your fault, Benjamin, you are so fucked – _and she raised herself from the sofa, a bit wobbly on her legs, walking out of the room with Fletcher, the cameraman, right behind her. She turned a few corners before facing the opening to the studio, trying to get into a frame of mind that was not full-blown panic. Still shaking, she was welcomed to the room with loud cheering from the audience. Lily walked over to a smiling James Corden on stage.

He was just as sweet as he seemed on television, so she welcomed his comforting hug genuinely.

"Oh my god, you're shaking so hard!", he said in her ear, before turning to the cameras. "This _beautiful _English lady here is Lily, our field producer assistant. Are you okay? Are you sure you want to do this?"

She blinked at the lights, breathing out again. "I think I am?"

"We'll take that answer", James laughed, looking at the audience. "That will do. Now please tell us, Lily, why is a beauty such as yourself single? Too picky? Weirded out by the dating poll in the US?"

"A bit of both, yeah", she confessed, smiling awkwardly. "But mostly I've been so focused on work that I forgot a bit about that part."

"Your cheeks are _so_ red right now, I almost feel bad doing this to you", James squeezed her arm while everyone laughed. "Let's get into the romantic part of your life and find you love tonight?"

"Yeah, sure", she nodded, compressing the inclination of running away as fast as humanly possible. "Let's do it."

"Okay, so we'll be back in a bit with _Late Late Live Tinder_!", James said to the camera. He turned to look at her a few beats later. "I am so sorry we couldn't tell you. You okay?"

"I think I am", she breathed out in the middle of a laugh. "Mostly nervous."

"You're doing great, don't worry", he said, signalling one of the assistants on stage – Frank, whom she knew. "Get her a bit of water, please."

Frank brought the water a minute later and asked her to be calm while James kept on talking to the audience to check if everybody was doing fine. The stage production build rapidly the set for the Late Late Live Tinder, which included a Tinder frame, behind which the contestants were supposed to stand, a ball poll, for the rejected ones, and three chairs and microphones for the prospects. They gave James a red foam hand Lily remembered seeing on the show before.

"We'll be back in a bit, feeling better?", he asked her. Another assistant – a newly hired one, named was Alice, Lily thought – got the glass from her with a smile that Lily mirrored.

"Yeah", she said, even though she really didn't know. "My hands are shaking so much."

"You'll do great, just breathe", he said, breathing with her for a moment before turning his body to the camera. She did the same. "It's time… Welcome back! We are here with Lily, who's still a bit shook, but overall doing fine, right, Lily?"

"Yeah", she said, eloquently.

"Now that we've had some water, let's get down to business", he continued. "Your friends, including Benjy, who we all met, picked a few guys for you."

"I don't know if I would call Benjy a _friend _right now", she said, for the audience's amusement.

James laughed accordingly. "He did tell me some of your secrets. Is it true that you are very particular about muscular, gym-driven guys?"

"In the sense that I don't care for them?", she smiled a bit, messing anxiously with her sleeve. "Yeah, it's a bit of a… I mean, I don't mind a fit bloke or someone who has nice habits, but I don't much like the buff, protein-shake ones."

"Okay, so _hopefully _we were sensible enough with our choices tonight", James went on.

She discretely wiped her hands on her skirt. The whole feel of being filmed was too much – the loudness, the light, the way her cheeks were practically sliding off her face from radiating so much heat.

She breathed out again while James introduced the game. At the very least, she took comfort in the fact that she was at her best in terms of looks. Benjy had been decent enough to not let her appear on television wearing her trademark comfy sweaters.

"Lily, this is your foam finger", James said, handing it to her, his voice cheery and excited. "You'll use it to swipe right, to the guys you want, or left, to the ones you want to dump in our ball pit of doom. Are you ready to do this?"

"Yes", she said.

"Let's do it!", James said, and the audience cheered on. "Let's bring our first contestant!"

James turned around and Lily followed his actions, positioning herself in the mark on the floor he pointed. She raised her eyes to see the first man appearing behind the Tinder frame.

The audience clapped for the straight-haired, tanned guy. He was wearing the most pretentious tank top Lily had ever seen, but he did have good arms and was lean enough to be pleasant to the eyes. He had the stereotypical surfer look going on.

"What do we think of… Amos?", James read off, a bit confused for a second. "Yes, Amos, 26 years old."

"Hmmm…", Lily started, thinking about it. Amos smiled off at the audience, seeming very interested in the attention.

"I mean, the ladies did give him a _great_ cheering", more cheering followed James's comment, "and he is definitely a handsome lad. Now, I'm not feeling his tan, it seems a bit fake."

"Yeah, I'd say so", she agreed, while Amos made a sad face. "Sorry! Don't be sad. You're just a bit orange around the edges."

"Stop being a good person, Lily, this is Tinder", James joked. "And I'm certain his tan will be more manageable over time."

"I guess it will…", she said, still wondering.

"And the tank top should go, as well", James continued. "He seems to have come directly from the beach."

"Yeah… Amos, you're lovely, I'm just not feeling a connection", she said, apologetically, and swiped left.

"OH, AMOS!", James shouted alongside the audience. Amos regretfully threw himself in the ball pool. "It is sad to see you go. Best of luck in life! Let's see our next contestant!"

Once again, a man walked up to the stage. This one had beautiful dark skin and was wearing a flamboyant purple jacket and a gold hoop earring. His hair had a military cut to it and his jawline was honestly a work of art. He was more muscular than Lily would've liked, though.

"Welcome to the stage, Kingsley", the host greeted, in a sultry tone. "Now that's quite a production. And what a _smile_, honestly, what is that?!"

"I think he stopped by after leaving the set of a superhero movie", Lily commented, feeling a bit more at ease.

"I really do like that description", James went along. "So what do we think about Kingsley? Yay or nay?"

"He seems like he worries a lot about his muscles", she mentioned, conversationally, twisting the foam finger around. Kingsley seemed to concede to her point. "But his smile is gorgeous."

"It is", James nodded. "He and I might hit it off if you don't want him. That's a bold man right there – look at his jacket."

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good point... Okay, you've got me convinced", Lily laughed. The audience cheered loudly. "Even though I _am _biting my tongue right now."

"We will not hold you responsible for _that_", James said, gesturing Kingsley significantly.

"Okay", she agreed, swiping right.

"THERE YOU GO, KINGSLEY!", James shouted, making Lily have a bit of a scare. She tried to hide it quickly, not wanting to become an internet meme. "We have our very first seat taken! Let's welcome our third contestant!"

The third guy came up a bit shier than the last two, messing around with his cuffs. He gave her a smile, but didn't maintain eye contact. He was – as it seemed to be the theme – very attractive, with his straight, black hair tied up in a knot. His clothes were the most regular she'd seen so far: a flannel shirt and a white undershirt.

"Hello, Zhao!", James greeted him, looking up at him. "Did I say your name right? Oh, no, forget it!, you're not supposed to talk up there."

"I like his hair", Lily said.

"I do, too, but I wonder…", James started, seeming thoughtful. "Could you please let your hair down, Zhao?"

The man nodded, pulling the hair tie and messing his hair a bit, more boldly than Lily expected from his discrete entrance.

"That _is _a lovely head of hair", Lily repeated, swiping right.

"OH! GREAT JOB, ZHAO!", James celebrated. "Our second seat is very much taken! Please join our friend Kingsley up there. Now we're on to the fourth contestant. Please, come up here!"

The guy had barely appeared and the audience had already _exploded_ in screaming. His hair fell to his shoulders elegantly and he had grey eyes and one of those troubled boy smiles. His brow was pierced and he wore a tight leather jacket over his pale skin. Seeing the reaction he got, he winked.

"GQ is probably calling us right now to reclaim this one back", James said, making an astounded face. "I am feeling personally offended in name of all males by… Can't see your name properly… Oh! Sirius… Okay, not so much after hearing that name. Surely I had a harder time with the girls, but my parents knew better."

The crowd laughed. Sirius shrugged, sweeping his hair out of his face with an elegant movement. Confidence oozed off of him.

"What are your thoughts on this one, Lily?", James asked her. "Besides that it's the most beautiful man that you've ever seen in your whole life."

Lily bit her lip. Sirius finally made eye contact.

"Hmmm… He is gorgeous, but that wink threw me off a little", she admitted. The crowd booed immediately. Her brows got high on her face. "Not a popular opinion, I see. But I…"

"But look at those shoulders!", James insisted. "And did you see that thing he did to his hair?"

"Yeah, but… He's too perfect. Sorry, Sirius, I don't think we click."

She swiped left.

"OH MY GOD!", James shouted, shocked, his mouth open. Sirius gave her a mock salute before throwing himself in the pool. "What did you just do?!"

Lily laughed, before shrugging a bit.

"Girls, he's still single!", she tried.

"Well, that is true", James said. While Sirius was leaving the pool, he added: "You'll be back here, Sirius! We'll make sure of it. Let's see the next contestant!"

The next man was ginger and had freckles scattered all across his face. He was wearing sunglasses and had a _too sexy for my shirt_ shirt on. His smile was very boyish and he was a bit on the short side.

When the cheering went down, James looked at Lily.

"Those are all bold choices", he acknowledged.

"That _is _true", she agreed, wondering where the contestant eyes' were focusing behind his lenses. "I can sense a great sense of humour coming off of him."

"Definitely", James agreed. "Gideon? Where in the heck are these names coming from? Okay, Gideon seems to have a big personality. So, what do you think? How important is humour to you?"

"Very important", Lily said. "Although I would like to see his eyes first."

"Please, show us your eyes, Gideon!", James asked. Gideon took off his sunglasses and revealed shiny brown orbs behind the lenses. "Oh, these are lovely. How we're feeling, Lily?"

"I am sticking with Gideon and ignoring his use of sunglasses indoors", she said, swiping right. The crowd cheered.

"Well, now we only have one more", her co-worker said. "And the good news are that you can dump the ones you picked and choose the new one. How does that make you feel?"

"Honestly, a bit unsettled", she confessed. "I never tried Tinder because it sounds cruel to pick someone only for their appearance without some context. So I'm saying sorry in advance to any possible swaps I make."

James cooed and the audience followed along.

"Isn't she the most precious thing?", he asked. "You honestly never got on Tinder?"

Lily shook her head no. "Never had the guts to do it."

"No wonder you're single", James deadpanned, making everyone laugh. "Now, send us the last one, please!"

The last guy was the tallest yet. And the thinnest. He had long arms and legs, a head full of jet-black hair that stood on the back of his head and lovely hazel eyes that were full of amusement behind his glasses. His jaw was strong and his white shirt had a deer printed on it (but that was pretty much all he had going on in terms of clothing). He stood there and gave a dorky wave to the crowd.

The girls cheered very loudly. Another fan favourite, it seemed.

He smirked, showing a dimple on his right cheek, and then his eyes made contact with Lily's. The smirk slid off his face suddenly and, differently from the rest of them, that seemed to be either very taken with the crowd or too shy to stare, he kept looking at her curiously. She felt her cheeks warm.

"Hello, there!", the host greeted him. "Wow that's some hair you've got there. And also the most beautiful name. I'm sure your parents are great people, James."

The man – 24 years old like her, she noticed – nodded enthusiastically, moving his eyes away from her.

"And a family man, too!", James (Corden) said. "How are we feeling about this one, Lily?"

"I like the glasses", she said. James (the contestant) turned his eyes back on her with a smile. "_And _the dimple."

"And he's most definitely not very buff", the host observed. The crowd laughed and the other James shrugged, still seeming confident in his own skin.

"That counts him some points", Lily agreed, still a bit embarrassed by his eyes on her. "And I like his height."

"So where does that leave us?", Corden inquired, signalling the other contestants. "Do you rather dump one of those over James?"

"I think I might", she said, and the crowd cheered on. She turned to the other ones. "That'll be a problem."

"It won't", James Corden denied. "It's fine, just get rid of one of those. Don't overthink it."

"Oh, god. You're all great… But… I'll choose the one I had less interaction with. I'm so sorry, Zhao, but I'll keep James."

"That's tough, Zhao", James lamented, while Zhao raised from his chair and shook James's hand. He threw himself at the ball poll and James sat down, saying hi to the other two contestants. "Now we have our final three, Lily. Please, gentlemen, introduce yourselves to this lovely lady here, by saying your name and where you're from. Let's start with Gideon."

"I'm Gideon from New York", he said into the microphone. He was already lowing it when his eyes widened and he brought it back to his mouth. "And hi Lily."

"Great side note there", James Corden joked. "Now let's hear James."

"Hey, Lily", the contestant said in a distinguished English accent. "I'm James from Liverpool."

"A fellow Brit!", James Corden cheered. "That might just give him an edge over the rest of you! Lily's originally from London."

"I do like Liverpool", Lily started. "But I must say right now that I am a football – soccer – enthusiast and a Chelsea fan."

"Ooooh, some tension!", James Corden said. "I can see that becoming a real problem years down the road when the teams face each other. What do you have to say for yourself, James?"

"I don't really need to", he responded. His amused hazel eyes didn't leave Lily's. "I'm sure everyone knows what happened on Champions League."

The crowd laughed. Lily rolled her eyes, but was smiling.

"That is just fantastic that he's rubbing his title on your face this early on", Corden commented to her. "Great strategy to win her over, James. Now let's go on the last of the contestant. Hello, who are you and where are you from?"

"I'm Kingsley from New Orleans", the next one said, in a booming, earth-quaking voice that made the audience scream a bit.

"Pa-lee-ze!", he said, sending Lily a suggestive look. "Wouldn't you want that voice in your ear every night? Could you please say something else, Kingsley?"

"Every human life is worth the same and worth saving", he said, straight-faced.

"Who said that?", Corden asked confusedly.

"Me", Kingsley answered, cool as a cucumber.

The audience laughed.

"I can respect a man who cares for social justice", Lily pointed out.

"And is sexy while saying it", James Corden added. "Okay, now that we know your names, Lily here will make you a question to decide which one of you she wants to take on a date. What do you want to know about these guys here, Lily?"

"Hmmm", she started, holding one arm with the other nervously. "I think I want to know why you are here. What's the motive to come on national television and expose yourselves like this?"

"That is a _good _question", James Corden approved, gesturing for emphasis, before grabbing the foam finger. "Let me throw this away, not a good look for you. So let's keep the same order. Come on, Gideon."

"Well, my brother landed himself a girlfriend", he said, smoothly.

"We're already off to an interesting start", Corden commented on the side, making the audience laugh.

"He keeps asking me to go on dates so we can double-date", Gideon kept on. "Then I thought I would come here and find myself a nice girl. Lily looks just like it."

The crowd clapped politely.

"Okay, that was very unexpected", James Corden said, turning to Lily in a conversational way. "I think it is interesting that he wants to bring the family into the loop so early on, too…"

"Yeah, but that's not an answer, exactly", Lily observed. "I mean, why _here?_ You could've landed a date anywhere."

"That's a good observation", Corden conceded. "Gideon?"

"My brother keeps telling the great story of how he met his girlfriend at a Drake concert", he explained. "And I saw the sign for this and thought a TV show just sounded like a story that would outdo his, you know."

Lily laughed along the other people.

"A bit of brother competition", James Corden nodded, amused. "Are you convinced, Lily?"

"Yeah, I am", she admitted.

Her eyes slipped to where James (the contestant) was sitting and his eyes catch hers at the exact same time. He smiled when he saw that she was looking. She turned her attention to the host quickly, but Corden seemed to have picked up on it.

"Look at those _smouldering _eyes on you, Lily", he said, supporting one arm on his waist. "He's definitely out to get you. Why are you here, James?"

"This might sound bad…", he started, messing a bit with his hair in an apparent nervous gesture. "But I'll be honest. I made a bet with my friend that one of us would get this far in the competition."

The audience booed loudly. Lily arched an eyebrow.

"Well, don't believe his eyes, that didn't sound much trustworthy for me", James Corden said to Lily, that was still divided between appreciating that he wasn't there to get famous and being slightly disappointed that it was a bet.

"No, wait!", James – the other one – said, taking his hand out of his hair. "We weren't taking this much seriously, honest, but I do want to go out with Lily. How could I not? And the fact that she said yes to me and no to my mate is just brilliant and avoids a whole load of awkward, so..."

"Wait, your mate was here today?", James Corden asked, surprised.

"Yeah", James confirmed. "It's Sirius."

The audience started screaming instantly.

"Oh my god!", the host laughed. "How much does he owe you?"

The messy-haired James smirked.

"A whole year of laundry", he said.

More laughs from everybody, including Gideon and Kingsley.

"That's certainly a good reason to come on TV", James Corden agreed. "Sorry about the underpants, Sirius!"

"The fact that they submitted themselves to possible national rejection over some laundry is very revealing", Lily said to Corden.

"It is", he agreed. "But I would do the same in a second, not lying."

"I don't doubt it", Lily remarked.

"So now let's hear Kingsley", the host signed the last contestant. "Why did you come today?"

"I saw the sign and felt like I could find somebody nice on here", he said, shortly, shrugging.

"Oh! Okay. I like that James spent fifteen minutes explaining himself and Kingsley takes two seconds", Corden said, looking jokingly at the camera. "Lily, now that we've heard from the three of them, you have to pick between these gentlemen. If you pick Gideon, you throw yourself headfirst into a family feud. James will go out with you wearing Liverpool shirts that he did not wash himself. Kingsley will talk to you only if prompted many times. Actually, thinking back, if you want to bring Sirius out here again…"

Everybody laughed.

"Let's see what the audience thinks about this", Corden continued. "Who do you think Lily should choose?"

The screams were pretty deafening and a mix of the three names. Lily didn't know if it was her inclination towards one of them that made one name more prominent than the others. Corden listened to it for a bit.

"Okay, thank you for your input", he thanked the audience, before turning his eyes to a yelling woman. "That's great, ma'am, I see your enthusiasm. She says Kingsley, Lily, if you couldn't hear her screaming it a thousand times. Now, what is your choice?"

Lily turned her body from the crowd, looking up at the contestants.

"I just want to say first that you're all lovely", Lily said, thinking it over in her head, even though her decision had been made already. "But I'll pick James."

"JAMES!", the host cried out. The band started playing a loud cheery tune. "That's quite a surprise. Come down to meet Lily! Thank you, Gideon and Kingsley, I'm sure your other half is out there."

Both waved and jumped in the ball pool before leaving. James stood and walked to the stage. Corden took Lily's hand.

"James, this is my good friend Lily", he said. "Lily, this is James."

She looked up at his face, even lovelier up close, and extended her hand. He took it with an honest grin, before pulling her in for a brief hug. He smelled like pine and aftershave.

"Nice to meet you", he said.

"You too", she answered.

"Well, don't you look lovely together", Corden said, once they pulled apart. "Now, we'll send you off to _the most _romantic venue in all of Los Angeles: a conference room down the hall. Enjoy your date, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and we'll see you in a bit."

The audience cheered one last time. James – her date – took her hand and they left the stage, being ushered by Frank to go to right down the hallway.

"Your hand's so cold", James remarked, looking back at her. "A bit camera shy, yeah?"

"There's a reason why I'm out of the frame at all times on my job", she agreed. "You, on the other hand…"

"Not very shy, no", he smiled before stopping in front of the door Frank was signalling.

"We'll be back to get you onstage again, okay?", he said.

"Thank you, Frank", Lily smiled.

They entered the room still holding hands. There was a meal laid out on a round table. The light of the room was diminished and there were some candles around.

"God, I can't believe my day is ending like this", she breathed.

"Is that good or bad?", James asked, gesturing for them to take a seat.

"Let's see", she smiled at him, before sitting herself down while he did the same. "It was the scare of my life. I thought I would just turn over on the way to the stage."

"We couldn't see anything from the back", he said. "That might've prepared me."

"For what?", she asked, frowning her forehead.

"I promise this is not a line", he started, leaning his arms on the table. His eyes had a good-humoured hint behind his glasses. "But you're honestly the prettiest girl I've ever met."

Lily shook her head, but was smiling. "That's a line."

"It's the truth!", he said, raising his hands defensively. "I'm sure I looked like a right tit when I first saw you."

"You were just fine", she remarked.

"Glad you think so", James smirked. "But let's just wait for the memes."

She tore her eyes away from his to look at the food. "Should we serve ourselves? Are you hungry?"

"Not really", he answered.

"Yeah, me neither", Lily said. "Wednesday afternoon is not that good a time to eat heavily."

"I would rather just talk to you, if that's alright?", he suggested. "We don't have much time. I'm certain they'll find someone to eat all the food."

"No, that's fine", she said, before pointing at the wine. "But a bit of wine seems like a good idea to me."

"Yeah, it does", James agreed, taking the bottle and pouring wine on their glasses. "Not too much for me because I've been known to overshare on alcohol."

"I sense some good tales there", she said amusedly, taking the glass he extended to her. "Thank you. So, before anything else please tell me about that bet of yours."

James screwed up his face, twisting his wine on his glass distractedly.

"I was sure that'd cost me this date", he said. "But then it was either the truth or come up with a horrible line on the spot."

"And we've already established you're not that good with those", she pointed out.

"I resent that", he chuckled. "It wasn't the wisest decision, because I wanted to have some time with you, but my mind was completely blank."

"Because I wiped it with my beauty, yeah?", she joked.

"Basically", James conceded with a shrug.

"Don't bullshit me, James…", Lily raised an eyebrow, waiting for a surname.

"Potter", he completed, finally sipping some wine and leaving his glass on the table. "And that wasn't bullshitting. You'll know when you see it, Lily…"

"Evans", the redhead completed. She stood silent for a few seconds, thinking of her wording for the next subject she wanted to touch. "The bet got me worried for a bit, but I was glad you didn't do it to have your 15 minutes of fame."

"Well, that's one thing I don't care about", he said. Lily noticed his glasses stood a bit crooked on his face. "Being known, I mean."

"You're not in the industry, then?", she inquired.

"I'm an animator", he answered. "So I'm living on the margins."

"I can emphasise with that", Lily said. "Do I know your work from somewhere?"

"Did you watch Frozen?", James asked, tilting his glass at her.

Her eyes widened in shock.

"I did!", she said.

He nodded slowly. A few beats passed.

"Well, that wasn't me", he said, shrugging and taking a sip of wine.

"Oh my god", Lily laughed, shaking her head. "You're a git."

"Sorry", James grinned. His eyes crinkled around the edges. "Couldn't miss the opportunity. But here's an honest answer: I'm working currently for a videogame company. And I _am _having conversations with Disney for one of their next films, which I'm not supposed to talk about yet."

"Or you'd have to kill me", she added.

"Precisely", he agreed. "What about you? All the way from London to work with Corden?"

"Kind of?", she raised her shoulders. "My best mate was already here, she's a musician. I tried for this job because I had some prior experience working as a field producer for BBC and couldn't stand living with my sister back home anymore. When I got the spot I packed up everything and came as fast as I could. But my degree is in English Language and Literature."

"Now I feel ten thousand times dumber", James said depreciatively, doing what Lily wanted to do and pushing his glasses up his long nose. "How did you end up on this field of work?"

"My friends and I annoyed everyone at uni to let us have readings of literature weekly", she said. "They allowed it, but we had to edit the recordings, bring people in and find locations all by ourselves. We had a lot of help from journalists and cinematographers and that was the beginning of a new passion for me."

"That's impressive", he observed.

"It's not when we're all screaming at each other over a poem by Mallarmé", she smirked. "But it was great fun. And now here I am."

"Here you are", he repeated, looking at her with that same look from the stage – the one that pinned her on the spot. "I'm glad you didn't say yes to Sirius, you know. That would've been awful."

"He bet he was going to make it and you wouldn't?", she inquired.

"Yeah", James agreed. "I would throw myself under a bus before telling him this, but I expected him to win, as well. He's – as a mutual friend has so eloquently put – a chick-magnet."

"I guessed", the redhead agreed. "If you thought you'd lose, why did you come?"

"I don't back out on dares", he said, his hand going to his hair again. "That's a character flaw, by the way. Terribly competitive. I've been told by another mate that I'm a child."

"Okay, keep talking", she joked, taking the bottle of wine and offering to pour him some.

"I don't intend to send you running, so no, thanks", he denied. He waited for her to be served before talking again. "Now, the million dollar question: why is a girl like you single? Are you really looking for a relationship or Corden just got it completely wrong?"

She looked up at him, whom was watching her attentively. Her belly did something in response to the light in his eyes.

"I thought the million dollar question was _are you really a ginger_?", she remarked with a smile.

He threw his head back and chuckled. She smiled at his face, even though he couldn't see it.

"Are you?", he said, still amused.

"I am", she confirmed. "And that's an answer to the other question as well. I want a relationship, just not with a man that acts like a self-centred Ken doll, which are a lot of the men I have met through my friends. They mostly work with actors, writers and directors that have in common the fact that they are all the greatest gift from God to us common folk."

James chuckled.

"On that note, I'm _so glad _you didn't meet me at fifteen", James confessed. "You would've kicked me in the arse."

"I was not one to turn down a good scolding by then", she said, supressing some memories of one of her less than stellar experiences with a prejudiced childhood friend. "What about you?"

"What?", he asked, his whole stance more relaxed than it was when they first entered the room.

"Are you looking for a relationship?", Lily continued.

"'Course", he answered. She noticed for the first time when he inclined his body towards her that his eyes had a bit of green in them. "I thought it was quite obvious."

"How would that be obvious?", she inquired, tilting her head to look at him. "The bet actually made it seem like you were just joking."

"I've been flirting with you too hard to just be messing around, you see", he said, again with the earnest eyes.

Her cheeks were definitely warming up again. _Thank you for the genes, mum._

"I'm too wary to interpret flirting as anything else than a tentative to take me to bed", she replied, trying to pretend there weren't any jazz routine inside of her chest cave.

"I'm not opposed to that, I won't lie", James admitted, eyes glistening with delight behind his glasses. "But first I'd like to know you better, if that's okay."

They looked at each other for a few beats.

That _fucking _dimple.

Lily broke eye contact first, feeling warm all over.

"Yeah", she conceded, wine glass forgotten on her side. "We can do that."

"Great", he smiled, open and honest.

"Good", she remarked back.

They stared again.

"This is weird", Lily admitted, huffing a bit to hide a smile. "Pick another subject. We can't stare at each other forever."

"Why not?", he asked, simply, but then she sent him a look and he raised his hands defensively. "On it. What's your favourite food?"

"It's aubergine lasagne", she said, a bit disappointed by the lack of creativity of the question. "I'm a vegetarian, by the way. What's yours?"

"Anything pizza", he admitted, his eyes getting a faraway look for a few seconds. "I'm thinking of a good place we can go to… But I don't know many vegetarian places, sorry."

"Oh", she breathed, realizing the motive behind his question. "Maybe I can pick it this time? I promise I won't starve you or make you eat only vegetables."

"That sounds great, vegetables or not", he said. "Maybe we can exchange numbers?"

"Yeah", she said, instinctively reaching out for her phone. Then she remembered she had left it with Benjy. "Mine is actually not here."

"I don't have mine on me either."

"Then we'll do it after", she promised.

"Great", he said, resting his face on one of his hands. "You know you have the most amazing eyes, don't you?"

Lily blushed. It wasn't exactly uncommon to hear people mentioning her eyes, but rarely with that much emphasis.

"No, I don't", she said.

"Well, you do", he replied.

"Thank you", she said, sincerely. "I like yours, too."

"Yeah?", he asked. She nodded. "Now it's your turn to pick a subject."

"Right", she started. "If you were me, what would've been your question for the contestants?"

James was already starting to answer – _when was the last time they showered, _he would tell her after– when the door opened again. They both were startled out of the calm of the room, remembering they were supposed to go on stage again. Frank smiled at them.

"Time to go", he explained.

Lily nodded. James raised up and extended his hand to her.

"Shall we?"

* * *

"So we're back now with these unfairly beautiful people", James Corden said from between James and her. "And we are all dying to know how your date went. Lily?"

She smiled, trying to force down the blush trying to take over her face.

"It went really well", she said. "James is great and we had a good time together."

"That's so good to hear", Corden said, squeezing her hand. "What about you, James?"

"It was fantastic", he said, waking up the audience with his assertiveness. "I can't believe how fantastic it was, in fact. Lily's brilliant."

"Someone is enthusiastic", Corden side-eyed Lily, who chuckled. "Now, after those very cryptic responses, we want to know if you would go on a date together. Okay? You'll say it at the same time when I count to three."

"Okay", they said.

"You're trained already", Corden joked. "We have no idea what the outcome will be. The tension here is _insane_. One, two, three…"

"Yes", they both said.

"Yeah! Love is in the air at the Late Late Show!", the host cheered along the audience, taking both their hands. "And on this note, we'll say goodbye. Tomorrow night we'll have Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott and Will Smith on air to talk about Aladdin! Don't miss it."

James and Lily smiled at each other.

They kept smiling for the longest time after that.


End file.
